Events Around Town

Things to do on vacation through the year in Moab

Anticipation is always high in Moab when Easter rolls around, bringing visitors and their recreational vehicles from around the world rolling in with it for the Easter Jeep Safari.

Thousands of vehicles buzz around Moab for nine days to ride 38 trails across the region. Many return year after year, bringing friends new and old together as an annual tradition.

Fifty years ago, Moab’s first Jeep Safari brought 500 visitors who enjoyed a Bar-M Chuckwagon breakfast and toured a single trail in the “Behind the Rocks” country south and west of Moab. Since then, Jeep Safari has become so meaningful to four-wheeling enthusiasts around the world that car manufacturer FCA USA – formerly known as the Chrysler Group – launches limited-edition Jeeps commemorating the nine-day extravaganza.

Don’t be surprised if Moab seems to be in time warp the last weekend of April, when the April Action Car Show in Swanny City Park brings bygone-era traffic to Main Street every year.

The car enthusiasts come from across the country, and even British Columbia, bringing rare and antique vehicles representing the whole spectrum of eras and technologies of automobile history. Admission is free to spectators, and all proceeds from donations and participant fees benefit the Rotary Club’s community nonprofit support fund.

At the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands national parks, the Moab music festival puts on 17 concerts of chamber music, jazz and Latin sounds on ranches, in private homes and at various outdoor settings.

For the festival’s signature Grotto Concerts, a grand piano proceeds attendees on a 45-minute jet boat down the Colorado river to a towering red-rock grotto inside Canyonlands, where noted artists perform Mozart, Brahms and Dvorak using the intrepid instrument. Half-day music hikes and a three-night raft trip take audiences to performances in secluded nature settings.

Test out the all of the latest and greatest bikes on the world-class trails of Moab. For three days, Outer Bike brings the world’s best bike and gear manufacturers to the Moab Brand Trails parking lot.

Registration buys access to the all bikes, lunches, shuttled rides, prizes, movies and entrance to Moab’s famous rocking evening parties. You can walk through and see next year’s innovations, pick a bike you’d like to try and take it for a ride. From the trailhead at the parking lot, you can access more than 20 miles of connected loops ranging from fun and easy, to technical and challenging.

As the weather turns elsewhere in late fall, Moab is just entering its second prime season. Riders from around the world take advantage of the opportunity to join an exhilarating road cycling ride into the La Sal Mountains and past the Colorado river, while supporting a good cause.

The Moab Century Tour offers three supported courses of varied lengths and elevation gain. Participants are invited to raise funds with support from the race organizers for programs and facilities working toward curing and treating cancer-related diseases.

Over 50 and looking to put your athletic skills to the test? The Moab Senior Games are a perfect way to challenge yourself during your next fall retreat.

Certified by the National Senior Games Association, the Moab Senior Games offer competitions in popular sports like golf, equestrian events, and pickleball. With the goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle and some friendly competition, the games are one more way for visitors to experience Moab through action.

Although Moab is world-renowned for its thrilling mountain biking, many don't realize the area also has some of the best road biking in the world. Hundreds of miles of paved roads wind through the spectacular scenery here.

The Festival includes four separate supported rides - through Arches National Park, along the mighty Colorado River, and from town to Dead Horse Point and back. Each highlights different riding challenges.

Skinny Tire Festival is the signature event of the local non-profit organization of the same name, which was created to support the fight against cancer, creating an experience where survivorship and research toward a cure is the focus.

What better way to spend a day in the American southwest than at the rodeo? In early June, the Canyonlands Rodeo brings pros from around the country to wow crowds with courage and physical prowess. A member of the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association, the rodeo includes all the classic favorite competitions, including bull riding, barrel racing and even mutton bustin’ for the the half-pints.

Fourth-generation local stock managers make sure the animals are healthy, well-cared for and trained to provide a show to remember. Bar-T Rodeo Inc. has been in the Kerby family since 1945, and its creators were inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1997.